Open Thread #55
Christmas may be the most wonderful time of the year, but it sure is also the most hectic!
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Since October 2005
Grand Forks Life is the first and biggest blog covering life in the city of Grand Forks, North Dakota. GrandForksGuy shares local news, rumors, and his own opinions.
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NOTE: The views expressed in original posts on "Grand Forks Life" are merely the views and personal opinions of the owner of this blog. No guarantee is given for the accuracy of content. The views expressed in reader comments are the views of those readers. "GrandForksGuy" and "Grand Forks Life" do not endorse the views of readers.
62 comments:
When you stop believing in Santa and stop throwing snowballs, you've officially reached old age!
What about if you stop believing in Santa, but you still throw snowballs? What does that mean? Middle aged?
GrandForksGuy,
There's been some comment on the open threads lately about the lack of content on the blog over the past month. You've also commented that you've been quite busy recently. I find this blog a great place, and appreciate everything you're able to do. That said, I was wondering if you'd ever considered adding one or two other contributors to the blog, with you still taking the lead. I'm sure, among some of the regulars, there are people who would be willing and able to keep up some posts in the spirit you've established. I completely understand if you want to keep this a personal project. I just thought I'd throw the idea out there.
I noinate Greenass4!
you mean greenglass4
Whoops!
No, I'm pretty sure anonymous @ 2:26 pm didn't spell the name wrong.
Someone said they saw people working on the lights on the 42nd UND Skywalk to fix the burnt out V and T....when I drove under it tonight, a couple more letters were completely burnt out and the T was still red.
The burnt out/discolored lights don't look good at all, I wish they'd fix that soon. This isn't Burger King, it's the University of North Dakota, fix the damn lights.
So what are your thoughts on the National Anthem & how it's sung at UND games - changing the "Home of the Brave" to "Home of the Sioux"? It seems that it's only recently become this huge thorn in the side of many GF Herald letters to the editor.
Do you like it/dislike it? Offended personally by it?
Do you think that it will ever dissolve, even if the nickname is changed?
I, personally, like it, and I can't see it going away, even if our nickname is something other than Fighting Sioux in the future.
I think it's really, really stupid. How many thousand white people whos ancestory has only been here a max of 150 yrs, proclaiming the "home of the Sioux" (a sovereign nation) during another nation's national anthem. Sure, it's not offensive on the surface, but when you really start to think about it you might be able to see it my way.
The home of the "Sioux" topic is far form being a local issue. This comes up with almost every major university at sporting events. For instance, at U. of Oklahoma home football game, we sing "home of the Sooners". I fail to see why it's a big deal, but to each their own.
Every College/High School sporting event that I've been at this occurs. Except for tournaments, I think it is pretty common.
I think that this is worth mentioning. I used to work at a daycare with four year olds, and one day we were singing the national anthem. At the end of the song, about 75% of the children said, "home of the sioux" rather than "home of the brave." They didn't know any better, and they thought that's how the song went. I thought it was cute, and showed that this mascot is accepted by a lot of the community. Whether this is a good thing or not, you can be the judge...
Soooo, Why is "home of the 'brave' " not hostile & abusive? I thought all male Indians were called "braves".
To the 12:39 PM anonymous: so, you want to take it out of the context of the hockey/football/whatever game and look at it as referring to the Sioux Nation, rather than the Sioux teams? OK, I'll bite. Wasn't this land the home of the Sioux long before it was the home of the white people? If so, then by using your course of logic, they are just reminding people of this fact.
"Wasn't this land the home of the Sioux long before it was the home of the white people?"
And who was here before the Sioux people? Anyone... anyone???
Terry Dullum?
That's right, Mr. Dullum!
You really believe the Vikings were here first? Some kinda stone found in MN? Rune, stone?
I think it's just dumb. Interesting to me is the fact that many people I talk to who are in favor of the Sioux name (and yell out "Sioux" at the end of the National Anthem) are the same ones who get pissed off when it gets suggested that we aren't quite as grateful as we should be to our armed forces. You'd think they would respect their country more than a sports team, but apparently not.
What bothers me even more is that they don't even play the Canadian National Anthem, when most of the UND hockey team is Canadaian.
"Soooo, Why is "home of the 'brave' " not hostile & abusive? I thought all male Indians were called "braves"."
~I take offense to that statement. Home of the brave refers to the brave soldiers who risk their lives so you have the freedom to make stupid comments on a blog.
Yelling "Soux" at the end of the national anthem is disrespectful to our armed services. It proves that this town cares more about a stupid sports team then the men and women who serve our country when children know about a college sports team rather than our nation's history. It's not "cute" it's disrespectful.
Matthew-
So by your statement of...."What bothers me even more is that they don't even play the Canadian National Anthem, when most of the UND hockey team is Canadaian."....Does that mean that every nationality should be represented? A couple of years ago, we had a Slovak player, should we have played his national anthem too? What about in the NHL or any other league? They play both anthems when a Canadian team comes to the US or vice versa.
Where do you draw the line? Is there a percentage on your mind? Just for the record, UND has 11 canadian's on it's roster out of 25 guys, that's 44%. Not Most.
They played the Canadian national anthem when we played Manitoba. I think it is more about where the team is based, not where the players are from.
Yelling "Soux" at the end of the national anthem is disrespectful to our armed services.
No it isn't. And I guarantee no one means disrespect to our armed forces by it. If anything, it implies the armed forces gave us the ability to be free AND cheer for the team of our liking.
Even though the armed forces of 1944 and 2007 are different for many reasons (I still respect anyone willing to give years of their life to the service of our country).....IT'S A RACIST LOGO!!! Cmon! Do your homework and accept it!
No, we should not play the Canadian national anthem at hockey games. We live in the USA, not Canada. Playing the national anthem of a visiting team makes sense.
I played for a baseball team up in Canada that was made up of mostly American players, but they didn't play our anthem before our games..........because we were in Canada.
The "Home of the Sioux" line at the end of the anthem is fine at home games. Using the line at away games is appalling and petty beyond words. When I attend away games, I never wear Sioux apparel to avoid being associated with the petty and childish Sioux fans that give all the rest of us a bad name.
Grow up!!!
Surely there's something else to talk about.
I have an idea. I've noticed that there is a plethora of Christmas concerts--too many to attend at this already busy time of year. In the town I lived before (similar population), they had one Christmas concert with all the choirs from the whole city and it was held at the big Catholic church. It was a beautiful event, and it gave people the opportunity to see their favorite choir as well as see what the others have to offer. It has become so popular that they now have at least 3 shows. I just think it's a great solution when you have multiple high schools and children's choirs and college and the master chorale and etc. What do you think? Would you be in favor of one big event rather than what we have now?
Matthew-
So by your statement of...."What bothers me even more is that they don't even play the Canadian National Anthem, when most of the UND hockey team is Canadaian."....Does that mean that every nationality should be represented? A couple of years ago, we had a Slovak player, should we have played his national anthem too? What about in the NHL or any other league? They play both anthems when a Canadian team comes to the US or vice versa.
Where do you draw the line? Is there a percentage on your mind? Just for the record, UND has 11 canadian's on it's roster out of 25 guys, that's 44%. Not Most.
For the record, yes, looks like I was wrong when I said 'most.'
But let's talk about respect. If we can argue that the American National Anthem is played out of respect for the Americans who have given us everything we could hope for and more, why not play the Canadian National Anthem? If not for the Candadians, you wouldn't have 44% of your men's team. You know, they aren't here solely for your entertainment--imagine that they might even be here for an education! So why not treat the players with more respect for sucking it up and having to live in Grand Forks for 5 or 6 years to get an education and play on your hockey team?
What does it matter what the NHL does? UND is not a part of the NHL.
Sure, play the anthem for anyone who's not from the US. I encourage it, since it might expose this godforsaken town to some new ideas, or at least a little bit of another culture.
Surely there's something else to talk about.
I think your idea is good, not that I go to any Christmas concerts as it is.
"When I attend away games, I never wear Sioux apparel to avoid being associated with the petty and childish Sioux fans that give all the rest of us a bad name."
This is the most ridiculous thing I have heard today... why bother going to away games if you aren't going to support the team by wearing the UND Sioux (or future nickname) colors/apparel?
Yes, there are certain people who may not represent themselves out in public the way you would personally in any aspect of daily life... but why not stand up and show support for our athletes when attending games, home or away; therefore, leading by example?
Not all UND athletic fans are "petty & childish" goons, no matter what side they are on with the nickname issue.
"...why bother going to away games if you aren't going to support the team by wearing the UND Sioux (or future nickname) colors/apparel?"
Why? Well..
The apparel is ugly.
I'm there to watch the game, and cheer for the Sioux.
If I go out afterwards, I don't want to look like a clown.
I'm not stupid enough to think that the fact that I'm dressed like a clown will effect the outcome of the game.
It's been many, many years since I was in 3rd grade.
You go in your killer Sioux sweatshirt. I hope many Sioux fans, do. That way, I don't have to.
Come to think of it, one of the last away games I saw, the team lost by one goal. I wasn't dressed like a green Barney. Sorry, Hak, and team, that one was my bad. One more sioux jersey in the crowd and we could have pulled that one out.
The National Anthem is sung in respect to our country and flag. To scream 'Sioux' [or anything else] at the end shows disrespect to both [not just the armed services/veterans]. Incidentally,home of the brave always has referred to brave people, not Native American braves. Would you raise an "American" flag with the Sioux [or any other team logo]in place of the stars? I hope not, and for the same reason you shouldn't sing the National Anthem incorrectly.
When my mother was in college [back in the 'dinosaur days', we used to say], students at her school were told that a student should always act in a manner that reflected positively on her school, her parents, and herself. Not bad advice [but often not followed]! Think how many problems would be avoided, if today's students followed such advice.
It's very disrespectful, just like keeping the logo would be... hmm i noticing a trend here! Good show, UND.
crabby posters...
"The National Anthem is sung in respect to our country and flag. To scream 'Sioux' [or anything else] at the end shows disrespect."
Screaming "Sioux" instead of "brave" is a UND athletic tradition that doesn't make us less free, less safe or cause one soldier to be put in harm's way unnecessarily.
Oh, and you know what else? Sometimes I cross the street on "Don't Walk".
anon at 12:13 are you smoking crack? Of course screaming "Sioux" instead of "brave" does not make you less safe or put a soldier in harm's way. It is just down right disrespectful, which is what many people are lacking now days. I'm not very old but I do know what respect is. Why don't you attend a local boys scout meeting and learn a little bit about respect and how to correctly act during the national anthem and flag ceremony.
Traditions can and do change-sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worst! My husband graduated from UND in the late 60's and he tells me that during the time he was a student he never heard "Sioux" screamed at the end of the Star Spangled Banner during hockey games [or any other time]. When we returned in the mid-eighties, that 'tradition' was going strong. Sometime during those fifteen [about] years, the 'tradition' was born. I suggest that it is time to start a 'new' [old] tradition-one where the National Anthem is sung respectfully as written.
"That said, I was wondering if you'd ever considered adding one or two other contributors to the blog, with you still taking the lead."
The only problem with this is you'd end up with something similar to a Say Anything Blog; so many new topics, that you end up having to go to page 4 to find where you left off. This is not to knock that blog, it's just there is too much posted there to keep up with it.
anon at 1:32-Will the local boy scout meeting let someone in if they are gay? If that magnificant group would spend a little less time selling popcorn and folding flags and teach a little tolerance to its leaders, I'd have some respect for it.
anonymous @ 10:24- Exactly what I was thinking. Pretty sure I wouldn't go to the boy scouts to be taught respect about anything.
"That said, I was wondering if you'd ever considered adding one or two other contributors to the blog, with you still taking the lead."
If that were to happen, the blog would be better as a forum (which even in its present form might serve as an easier way to navigate the comments).
Does anyone know anything about the late night non-CTA bus that someone is operating? I've been hearing rumors of this bus, and even saw it the other night, but it was too far away to read the phone/info.
Has anyone else noticed how awful the city bus routes are in Grand Forks after 6? And who would ever want to leave the downtown after 9? Nobody, according to CTA. Yup, leave at 9, and (for me) it takes almost an hour to get home after that. *sigh* looks like I need to get a car.
Has anyone ever participated in a community car sharing program? Maybe it could work here. I've heard good things in other cities.
Christmas concerts vs. Sioux-anything?
No Brainer.
Bring on the sounds of Christmas...and the more-normal behavior associated with it!
As a public service annoucement, I called the GF public works yesterday to tell them to fix the traffic lights at 32nd Ave and 34 St. and the light in front of Buffalo Wild Wings.
They both have green arrows that just stay on with no traffic there. Very frustrating!
That is all.....
Anyone know where a person could get a decent copy of an old Christmas film, aired only on tv, called "The Gathering"? Maureen Stapleton and Ed Asner starred in it.
I know: eBay. I was thinking perhaps of something a little more realisticly priced, however.
If it was a little later at night, you probably saw a new bus that is traveling a downtown route for bar patrons and then back to the UND area. It was started by a recent UND graduate (or possibly current student, I guess I am not sure). It is only for the downtown-UND route, however.
"It is only for the downtown-UND route, however."
A lesson there, for sure; a one-way trip.
What is up with the crazy drivers around GF especially on the weekends during the holidays? The next person that tailgates me, I'm stomping on my brakes!
http://fargodev.blogspot.com
New posts on the Fargodev Blog! If you like GFL, come check them out.
"What is up with the crazy drivers around GF especially on the weekends during the holidays?"
Hopefully you aren't one of those crazy drivers doing 20 in a 40!
so i went down to see bert and erny at the local hardware store and i all i got was a tool called a hammer. grand forks=lollipops and zombies
Christmas is not the most wonderful time of the year. I sucks
because I can't buy gifts this year
because of hardships this year and
not one person cares because it christmas spending time for them.
What happend to the folks that share. I sure wish I could but can't
Oh and I do work two jobs.
Enough of your troubles...people tried to help last time but you didn't list any contact information for yourself. I think that you are a fake anyways, but if you are real, list your information so the people that want to help can help - otherwise, keep your bad attitude to yourself.
Anon at 10:15: Times are tough for many people....not just you. I do wish you the best of luck. Just have faith. I too work two jobs and both places have "adopted" families for Christmas. It might be too late but you should check into that and hopefully your family will get some help and your kids will get some presents. Hang in there.
Though society pushes everyone into thinking that Christmas is all about what you have and what you get, please try to find more value in what the season is and what it represents.
My wife almost died of a heart attack on Saturday, but was saved through the quick actions of the people at Aurora and Altru.
Forget the stuff under the tree, I'm just thankful that she's still with me, and I grieve for those less lucky than I. This season, her presence is all that matters to my family and I.
I agree. Christmas is so commercialized. It's sad, really. Most kids aren't even surprised when they open their gifts anymore, because if it's on their list, they'll get it. We let the kids exchange gifts this year, and as adults we are donating to a cancer related charity in our mother's name, as she has breast cancer. I know other people doing the same or similar. Christmas does not have to be about "stuff" if you don't want it to be.
Anon with "The Gathering" question
check this out: http://www.ioffer.com/i/THE-GATHERING-Ed-Asner-christmas-dvd-9457898
it might be what you are looking for.
Angie, you just made a couple of very happy people!
Excellent site, and not overly-expensive as in eBay.
Thank you so much; Merry Christmas...enjoy those lights! :o)
Hey Anon 3:10 - just make sure you read the full descriptions and reviews before buying, just like on ebay you don't know who you may be dealing with.
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